


Laughs, Loss, and Love

by because_nope



Category: Hollywood Heights
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Break Up, Brother-Sister Relationships, Character Death, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Family Drama, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Sexual Content, One-Sided Attraction, Past Relationship(s), Slow Build, Slow To Update
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-26
Updated: 2016-10-25
Packaged: 2018-08-17 10:49:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8141152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/because_nope/pseuds/because_nope
Summary: Loren Tate was a sweet, kind hearted girl. Everything in her life was perfect. That is until one day everything went down hill; her brother Tyler dies in a car accident. Since that day Loren pushes away anyone that tries to talk to her, with an exception of her mom, Mel, and Adam. Will rockstar Eddie Duran change that? Or will he get pushed away like everyone else.





	

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Tyler is an endearing asshole, Cameron is a terrible liar, and Eddie wants what he can't necessarily have. Loren is tired of everyone's shit.

Everything was going great for 18 year-old Loren Tate. She recently got accepted into the college of her dreams, shortly after connecting with her half-brother, Tyler Rorke. As it turns out, one of Trent’s many affairs produced a baby boy. Tyler showed up at Loren's home in Tarzana one day claiming that he was the son of Trent McCall, and had only found out about Loren being his sister after Trent slipped up and mentioned her when they last spoke. Nora, not wanting Loren to get hurt again, was skeptical about letting Tyler into their lives. After a few weeks, she realized the young man was telling the truth. Loren got to know Tyler better and they ended up having a really close relationship. After five years of sibling bonding they're almost as inseparable as Loren and her best friend, Melissa Sanders. 

 

In one more week, Loren and Mel will be graduating from West Valley Charter High School. Even though Loren got accepted into Brown, she decided she was going to take a year off to spend more time with her mom before she goes. Though Nora protested quite a bit, she was internally grateful for the delay of her daughter leaving home.

Tyler sits on the couch in the living room, much like he normally does around noon on the weekends. A bowl of chips in one hand and a beer in the other, he makes himself comfortable, his feet propped up on the coffee table across from him and one arm thrown over the back of the sofa. He sets down his beer and reaches for the remote. His hand hits the couch.

"Loren, where's the remote," Tyler yells.  A few seconds pass before he calls out her name again when he realizes that she's ignoring him.

“Exactly where it was last time," is Loren's response as she tries to finish doing her homework. She gets silence in response so she goes back to scribbling down the answers for her homework. He yells her name again.

"I don't see it!"

"For the love-" Loren throws her books aside, realizing she isn't going to get any work done with him bugging her. Storming into the living room, she gives him the best Melissa glare she can manage before walking over to the sofa, feeling in between the cushions and pulling out the remote. 

"Is this what you were looking for, you intolerable prick?"

Tyler gives her a sly smile and grabs for the remote. "Tut, tut, my darling sister. Is that appropriate language for a beautiful young lady such as yourself?" He chides her playfully, even though he knows that he's already treading on thin ice. 

"Eat a dick" is the only response he gets before the remote is thrown at his chest. And it sends him reeling for a second, because holy shit, this is Loren that we're talking about. And then he's laughing and, if possible, her glare is colder and even harsher than before. He gets up still chuckling a bit as he sets the remote down on the coffee table before ruffling her hair in that annoying way that he does and walking into the kitchen towards the fridge. 

“Never mind. I don’t think there’s anything on right now anyways,” he shrugs casually. He hears a soft growl of annoyance from behind him and suddenly he's being tackled to the ground.

Though his hands are being pinned to the ground, pride flashes through his chest at the strength of his little sister.  Still, he squirms beneath her and groans a bit as she presses her knee into his crotch. Hard. A shocked yelp escapes him as she bites down on his shoulder and then she's laughing like it's nothing.

“What the hell?!" he shouts, no real heat in his voice. At this, her laughter increases a bit in volume. Nora walks out into the kitchen with a hand on her forehead, the other resting lightly on her hip.

"What’s going on out here?” She asks the question hesitantly, not sure if she actually wants to know the answer. This had honestly become a daily routine. Tyler comes over and they all talk for a bit about what had happened throughout the day, Loren goes to her room to start on homework or write songs, and one way or another, the two end up arguing or fighting about something, insignificant or the other. And normally it wouldn't bother Nora. She was happy. She was happy that her daughter and Tyler - her son - was happy; she was happy to have another child, even if he wasn’t necessarily hers to have. 

But not today. 

Not when Don had piled her desk with work and she had to skip lunch and stay a bit later than usual to get it all done. Not when he proceeded to scold her for not working hard enough, and then took Ellie to his office for a "talk". Not when she could hear the moans and groans through the thin walls of the empty and quiet clinic.

"Mom?"

"Ma."

The sound of her name being called repeatedly takes her out of her daze, and her eyes focus onto those of her worried children. Their faces come into focus and she looks up at them, wondering when the hell she got to the loveseat in the living room.

"Are you ok, mom?" Loren was worried. She knew her mom had been out of it lately, but it had never been this bad. The last time her mom had acted like this was a few days after Trent had left. She tried holding on, tried being strong for her daughter's sake and her own, but eventually it became too much.

Her bed felt too lonely, too cold and the last thing she had wanted to do was crowd the house with a bunch of men. That would only be a burden on Loren. Instead, she shut the out the world. God knows she didn't mean to; didn't mean to leave her little girl to fend for herself – to worry about meals and rather or not mommy would have the energy to get up and take her to school – to have think about and do all of the things that should have been Nora’s responsibility as a parent.

For Loren to see her mother falling back into that state of non responsiveness had her concerned beyond belief. 

"Mom," her voice comes out small and scared. “Are you okay?"

Looking up to her daughter, Nora's eyes begin to water. Reaching up, she cups Loren's cheek, her eyes softening tenderly. "I'm so sorry, sweetie. I didn't mean to make you worry," she sighs. "It's just Don… Lately, he's been really demanding at work. I think he might still be a little upset about the split."

As soon as Don’s name is mentioned, both Loren and Tyler tense up, their faces contorting into grimaces. A ghost of a smile hints at Nora’s lips. While she’s glad that her children are protective of her, Nora has handled her fair share of breaks up in the past. Even though she didn’t come out of there last relationship with the most dignity, her break up with Don was nothing she couldn’t handle.

“He has no right to be upset about anything,” Tyler struggles to keep from raising his voice. Nora and Don had been in an “exclusive relationship” for about a year and a half before Nora found out that Don had been cheating on her. His affair with Ellie, Nora’s former best friend, had expanded over half his relationship with Nora. 

When news of Don’s infidelity had reached Tyler, curtesy of Loren, Tyler had jumped into his car, ready to give Don a piece of his mind.  However, his best friend Eddie Duran had been there to calm him down and get him to think rationally about the situation. With Eddie not here to help him calm down, Tyler feels his rage getting the best of him. 

Nora’s calming hand on his shoulder pulls him out of his rage. "It's ok, Tyler. I'm ok," Nora chuckles. Of course it still hurt to thik about Don, let alone be in the same room with him. But between Tyler and Loren being here for her, she knows that she’ll be okay

"Hey," she says, gently. "Shouldn't I be the one threatening people? I'm the parent here."

Loren laughs quietly, wrapping her arms around her mother’s shoulders. “Maybe, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do some threatening of our own. Tyler joins in on the hug, pulling a laugh from both of the ladies when he squeezes them tight and lifts them up a bit.

The warm family moment is ruined by the sound of a horn blaring from the driveway.

"Oh, sorry guys. That's Ed. Uh, I guess I'll see you later, Ma,” it comes out as a question, as if he needs permission to come back later even though he knows he's welcome. Nora gives him a stern look and he takes the hint before laying a gentle kiss on her cheek. Loren opens her arms for a hug but receives a shove to the shoulder for her efforts.

"Asshole," she glares.

"Loren Tate!" 

Tyler laughs. "Love you too, Lo." Rushing out of the house, he quickly jumps into the passenger seat of Eddie's car.

"What's up, man?" They both do the bro-hug-handshake-thingy as Eddie asks the question.

"Trying not to commit murder,” he speaks casually enough, but the anger in his eyes betray him. "You?"

Eddie chuckles to himself, not at all surprised that Tyler has someone back on his bad side. “I’m doing pretty good,” he answers, backing out of the driveway. “Though I’d be doing much better if you would hook me up with your very attractive sister,” he adds, only half joking.

Tyler laughs, punching him playfully on the shoulder. "Not gonna happen, man. You're my best friend. I want it to stay that way." They're halfway to Eddie's penthouse on the other side of town when Tyler's words finally register in his head.

"What's that supposed to mean? What does me going out with Loren have to do with us being friends or not?"

Tyler sighs before turning to his lifelong friend and giving him a condescending look. "If you were to start dating Loren, then I'd have to kill you," he says, his voice serious. "Besides, knowing you, you'd get tired of the relationship within the first week and do something dumb as shit to ruin the whole thing." Eddie looks at him like he has three heads before focusing his attention on the road again. "What? Don't give me that look. Eddie, I've seen how you are with girls. You're with somebody new almost every other week. And trust me, I know that it's not because you're a player or anything. You want what your parents had, true love. And that's great and all, but you go about it the wrong way. I refuse to let Loren be one of your failed attempts."

Eddie shakes his head, not bothering to respond and stays focused on the road because honestly, Tyler is right. He does want what his parents, Max and Katy, had. The kind of love that gives you butterflies even after being with that person for a long time. The kind of love that sends you reeling because you learn something new and amazing about each other every day. That's what Eddie wants out of his relationship and he just hasn't been able to find it.

“Besides, Loren doesn't just date guys" Tyler continued. "It's always all or nothing with her. And if you, a person that she idols, for whatever reason, cuts things of with her because you don’t think she’s good enough, she'd be heartbroken." Stopping at a red light, Eddie looks over at Tyler and freezes. His face is sullen and grave and, god, if there wasn't a time that Eddie was glad that he and Tyler were friends... "And if I have to see Loren heartbroken, then I'm going to dig your grave and put you in it myself. Am I clear, Duran?"

"Crystal," Eddie turns back to the road just as the light turns green. The rest of the ride was silent. Both boys were in their own worlds, thinking about Loren.

Eddie knew Tyler was serious when he said he would kick is ass if he hurt Loren, but that didn't change anything he felt towards her. Given, Eddie wasn't the best when it came to letting girls down nicely. But, one way or another he always became the bad guy, mainly because of the fact that he had a big name in the industry and most girls just wanted some attention out of him anyways. 

Most of the girls he's dated in the past had been vindictive and manipulative, seeming to be nice at first but turning out to be complete bitches in the end. And damn it all to hell, he still couldn't tell them apart from the good girls. Case in point his last girlfriend, Chloe Carter. She had been lying to him about everything; where she was from, her name, god, even about her "dead" mother. Then to top all that off, she was cheating on him with Dylan Boyd, Eddie's sworn enemy. Ian, Eddie's other best friend, and Tyler always told him that Chloe was no good, but Eddie was too blinded by what he thought was love.

Tyler's thoughts were going down the same road at the moment. He knew Eddie wouldn't intentionally hurt Loren, but he desperately needs to come to the realization that not everyone can have a relationship such as that of his parents. He has to move on from this vision of a "perfect love" that he has. Loren is amazing. He knows that. Hell, if she wasn't his sister, he could see himself pursuing her. However, if Eddie were to hurt Loren in any way, he would lose it. At the same time, it wouldn't be such a bad idea to hook them up. 

He doesn't like that bastard Cameron, Loren's current boyfriend. He can't explain it, but something just doesn't sit right about him. Tyler hoped that their relationship wouldn't last too long, or at least not long enough for Loren to feel any real attachments to the bastard. He almost hopes the idiot would do something that would make Loren leave him. 

The thought fills him with guilt. He mentally scolds himself for wishing that Cameron would do something stupid to make Loren unhappy. He would never forgive himself if she got hurt. He doesn't know what to do. If she stays with Cameron, it's only a matter of time before he does fuck it up and breaks her heart. But, if she stay with him there's a possibility that she could be happy with the bastard. At the end of the day it's Loren's decision. So he's just going to have to deal with it, but be there for her when she needs someone to talk to or a shoulder to cry on. 

At that moment, Tyler made a vow to himself and to Loren; he was going to stand by her side and support her no matter what. He was never going to leave her. The only thing that was going to make him leave Loren was his death. And that wasn't happening anytime soon. 

They pull up to Eddie's penthouse, after a few more painful minutes of silence. Getting to Eddie's floor the atmosphere finally starts to warm up between them with the argument of who gets first controller on the X-Box and the promise of a cold beer, but, god, if they were expecting the scene in front of them…

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

After Tyler left, Loren decided she was going to call Cameron and invite him over. She hadn't seen him in a couple of weeks and thought they needed to hang out. After about three rings, Cameron finally picks up the phone.

Music blasts in the background and she has to pull the phone away from her ear for a moment when she hears a loud voice come through the phone.

"Hey, babe."

There were a few beats of silence, then: "Who is this?"

Loren was confused. Did he not see what the caller ID said when he answered the phone?

"It's Loren."

"Who's Loren?" he laughs.

"Uh, you know, Loren. The girl you've been dating for the past eight months..." She wasn't sure if Cameron was joking around or if he was serious, but she getting annoyed. Silence pours through the receiver and she’s about to hang up. Just as she goes to bring the phone away from her face Cameron speaks up, this time sounding like a completely different person.

"Oh! Hey, baby! Sorry about that. What are you up to?” 

"Um, nothing. But, I was wondering if you wanted to come over. I haven't seen you at school lately and I miss you."

Another beat of silence. Then, "Um, I'm sorry, babe, but I don't think I can make it."

"How come?” She feels her face fall into that sarcastic “explain” expression she’s picked up from hanging around Tyler so much.

"Uh, I'm just really busy right now," he says, his voice getting distant for a moment. Vaguely she can make out him asking someone to grab him a beer while they’re up.

'Yea, I can tell by the music blasting in the background and the sound of laughter,' she thinks to herself, rolling her eyes as she does so. "Oh, ok, well maybe later,” comes out instead, her voice angry. 

"Uh, yea sure later. Bye Loren." Before she gets the chance to say anything else, the dial tone is buzzing away in her ear.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I added Dylan Boyd, as the “Tyler Rorke” of the story. Also I’m going to try to be consistent with updating/editing the chapters - probably every other week on Tuesday. To my new readers, welcome. To those of you that followed the story here, tHANK YOU SO MUCH FOR STILL READING MY STUFF EVEN THOUGH IM A TERRIBLE PERSON THAT NEVER UPDATED. Also, before I get the comments "that's not something (insert character name here) would do/say", majority of this story is NOT canon. I wanted to keep the characters and most of their personality traits/morals, but because they go through different experiences and situations, there are things they say or do here that they wouldn't have in the show. On that note, Loren isn't bratty, she just picked up a few habits from Tyler; Eddie isn't a player, he just has a terrible taste in girls that he "falls in love with" - minus Loren; additionally, I never liked Cameron (lmao) so I made him be an asshole. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
>  
> 
> ->>>This story was originally posted on fan fiction.net, but I moved over to this site because I never use that account anymore. The other stories that are there will be posted later; maybe at the same time I’m updating this one, but more likely after this one is completed.
> 
> Also, I apologize for any typos...  
> Rick


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